Tag Archive: france

Guest post. One of Paris’s lesser known (by tourists, anyway) treasures, the 4.5km Promenade Plantée – literally translated as ‘the planted stroll’, and also known as la Coulée verte – is a pleasant walk on the west-east axis of Paris from Opera Bastille to the Périphérique in the east. The section to the Jardin Reuilly …

When I was diligently poring over the canonical 17th century French novel La Princesse de Clèves last year during my French literature class in Melbourne, the last thing I would have imagined was La Princesse becoming a symbol of resistance to President Sarkozy. Sarkozy seems to have borne a grudge against La Princesse for quite …

As my friend Marc Cogan commented in the previous post, the recent general strike had as its unofficial slogan Sarkozy’s comment, although this time directed back at him, “Casse-toi, pauv’ con” – “Bugger off, you sorry asshole.” Around two-thirds of the marchers were wearing this slogan in some form, and Marc managed to get a …

(by guest blogger Marc Cogan) Last Thursday’s general strike and supporting march were big successes, both from an organizational perspective, and as spectacle. Even the weather had already chosen sides, as the newspaper Libération, said, and it was sunny and warm throughout France. The weather swelled the crowds and buoyed their spirits. The parade was …

This entry is written by my dear friend and guest blogger Marc Cogan: Carolyne and I went together to a curious exhibition at the Hôtel de Sens in the Marais: “Photochromie: voyage en couleur 1876–1914,” that is, of nineteenth century color photographs. Until fairly recently, I labored under the misconception that until 1948, let’s say, …

Victorians go out alone far more than Australians in the other states, according to a new survey I heard about on ABC Radio this morning. This started me thinking about how much I enjoy travelling alone. It’s not that I’m anti-social—quite the opposite, in fact. And that’s precisely why I love travelling alone: locals are …